The Black Reavers

Of Champions and Gods

The Actors Assemble

Part 1 of Act 1

4

MAY/12

One month has passed since the events of the Rolandus raid. While the invasion originally seems to favour the attacking chaos raiders, but the tide quickly turns when Girhen Blackreaver’s flagship, The Blackest Dawn is boarded by the Mentors Space Marines. The ship is destroyed and Girhen barely escapes his death, then calls the Black Reavers to retreat. This is just another botched operation and the Black Reavers are just about ready for a change in leadership…

With this backdrop, the heroes (if such can be said about followers of the ruinous powers) of the assault on Rolandus are called to meet with the self-proclaimed high priest of the dark gods, Jorham the Seeker. With them was also summoned Tarek, an aspiring champion who had his own moments of glory during the Rolandus assault. Within his shrine, Jorham reveals to the gathered heretics that he has received a vision from the gods, showing him five figures of dark fate who would bring a reckoning to the blind followers of the Corpse-emperor, a new black crusade. He believes that these five warriors in front of him are the figures from his omen. He then tells them that if the heretics are to fulfill their apocalyptic destiny, then they must first gather followers around them. To do so, as the characters are told, they must first kill Girhen Blackreaver to take his place and reform the Black Reavers into the first crusaders for the prophesied Black Crusade. But, realizing that the renegades are no match to defeat the Blackreaver on their own, he tells them they must first gain the support of Girhen’s three main lieutenants:

Niccolo of the Blood, champion of Slaanesh and political mastermind in the war band

Daikun the Techno-liche, not an actual member of the Black Reavers, but still indispensable to the renegades, as he is the High Armoury Master for the war band

and lastly, Rem the Skull Crusher, devotee of Khorne and former leader of the ‘Red Lighting’ war band that was defeated and subsumed into the Black Reavers.

After Jorham swears the loyalty of his congregation to the newly-invested champions of the dark gods, the champions split up to win the loyalties of the generals.

Tarek and Azazael, go to entreat the flamboyant Niccolo, who greets them from his gilded room, hazed with the strong narcotics that he has grown accustomed to. The champions, only slightly intoxicated by the drug-infused mists, begin to negotiate with Niccolo. To ensure the gold-armoured warrior’s ‘loyalty’, Azazael convinces Niccolo that they are working to for his ascension to leader of the war band, and that the champions with be his vassals in the coup against Girhen. Azazael plans that after Niccolo aids the warriors in slaying the Black Reaver, they will betray and assassinate him. Niccolo, seemingly taken in by the lies of Azazael and Tarek, tells them that to ensure the rebellion, they must eliminate some less-than-reliable subordinates within Niccolo’s power structure.

Meanwhile, Vesmeir, Cythrant, and Alpharius Long-gunner go to meet with the Techno-liche. Daikun, reluctant to leave his work for, in his opinion, such petty individuals, begrudgingly receives the visitors. Within seconds, Long-gunner manages to insult the heretek, who doses the uncouth weapons expert with a drug that activates the suspended-animation function of his Sus-an membrane implant. The other two, carful not to prevoke the annoyance of the cunning techno-liche, negotiate for his support in the coming coup. Daikun agrees to aid the heretics, provided they first aid him: he tells them to retreive an artifact from a heretek expedition on M’kuve the 2nd moon of Q’sal, that had suddenly gone silent. The champions readily agree.

The heretics regroup, then head to the training complex of the ship, where Rem had taken up residence. Knowing the wroth of a khornite towards any sorcerous figure, Cythrant agrees to wait outside the training room his the still suspended Long-gunner. The remaining heretics are challenged to a duel by Rem. While he proves dangerous to even the astartes present (being only a regular human with just bio-enhanced muscle structures), he if eventually overcome and almost beat to death. However, the renegades stop short of fatally wound him and offer him to join there cause. Rem readily agrees, as he was waiting for a chance to finally get revenge on Girhen for dishonoring him after conquering the Red Lighting. With the one general already loyal, the heretics prepare to win over the other two, one step at a time.